The invention relates to improvements in methods and apparatus for simultaneously making several streams of fibrous material, such as tobacco. More particularly, the invention relates to improvements in methods and apparatus for simultaneously making at least two substantially identical streams of fibrous material which can be converted into rod-like fillers ready for draping into webs of cigarette paper or the like to form rods which are subdivided into plain cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos or other rod-like smokers' products.
It is known to simultaneously form several cigarette rods and to subdivide such rods into cigarettes of unit length or multiple unit length. The method and apparatus of the present invention are designed to furnish streams of fibrous material, such as natural, reconstituted and/or artificial tobacco, which can be converted into discrete rod-like fillers in a machine which is constructed to simultaneously turn out two or more identical or practically identical rods wherein wrappers of cigarette paper or other suitable wrapping material surround rod-like fillers of fibrous material including filter material for tobacco smoke and/or tobacco. As a rule, a single stream of fibrous material is subdivided into two streams which are then transferred onto air-permeable belt conveyors for conversion into rod-like fillers and for draping of fillers into webs of wrapping material. A drawback of presently known methods and apparatus is that the making of two or more identical or substantially identical streams is a costly procedure which necessitates the use of complex, bulky and expensive apparatus and that the quality of all products is not uniform.